Monday, 26 March 2012

A Drug Problem

Walked this morning, and dropped down into the town for a 9AM tete-a-bald-pate with my doctor.
Wasn't supposed to be my doctor, was supposed to be the diabetic nuse, but hey, who knew - they let nurses have holidays now. In the Springtime and everything. Irresponsible, I call it. See - this is what happens when you nationalise your healthcare system, people, take note. Nurses...common-or-garden diabetic nurses...can just take off and have a life, right when you need them.

Sigh...I'm not bitter, honestly.
So anyway, had to go see the doc instead. As I mentioned last night, I'm nearly out of Xenical, the combination safety-net and aversion therapy pills that have resulted in more than one hugely embarrasing 'crapping myself' incident during this year.

New doctor this morning. Middle-aged, Welsh, male, and with the kind of vaguely mystical air that makes you wonder if he's gonna rub you down with mistletoe and make you dance naked round a laburnum tree at midnight.
"Mmm..." he said, folding his long druid's fingers together.
"Hmm..." he said again, as if testing just how much it pissed off his patient. I let it pass, so he looked up at me slyly.
"See," he said, "we don't go much for these so-called 'fatbuster' pills..."
"I'm doing other things," I told him. "Eating right, exercising, all that."
"Hmm..." he said. He drew in a long breath. "Welllll, as long as you're not treating it like a wonder-drug, I suppose..."
"I've called it many things," I conceded, "but a wonder-drug, it is not."
"Hmm..." he said, one last time. He sniffed. "Alright, I'll give you three monthsworth, and then we'll see..."
"I've been taking it for a year with no problem," I said, feeling a need to defend my lack-of-pathetic...ness about pill-popping.
"Mmm...we'll see," he said, waving me out of his office.

I went to the nearby pharmacy.
"Hmm," said the teenager behind the counter. "Can't get this." She handed me back the prescription without ceremony.
"Oh," I said. "Really?"
"No," she said. "Problem at the manufacturers. I'd go back to your doctor and ask for an alternative if I was you. Or try another pharmacist."
I chose option B. I went to three other pharmacists...and in each of them I got the same response and the same advice.

So - I have just two days of Xenical left at this point, and possibly we'll then be going it alone again, for at least a while. Buckle up folks, it's about to get real.

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